Clasp or fastener.



No. 709,536; Patent ed Sept. 23, IBU Z.

N. CRANE. CLASP 0B FASTENER.

(Application filed. Dec. 12, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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STATES NWTE NEWTON CRANE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLASP OR FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 709,536, dated September23, 1902. Application filed December 12, 1898. Serial No. 699,016. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, NEWTON CRANE, of Boston, in the county of Sufiolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clasps or Fasteners, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has relation to clasps or fasteners, and whileparticularly adapted for use on shoes and those overshoes which areknown as arctics, yet may be equally well employed for securing togetherthe two meeting edges of a garment or any other article of wear ormanufacture.

The objects of the inventiop are, first, to provide a fastener whosemembers may be attached and detached with readiness and with littleexertion and which will not become accidentally displaced whilesubjected to or dinary wear and usage; second, to provide yielding meansfor holding the two members in engagement while in their operativepositions, and thereby enable me to use them on articles constructed ofcomparatively stiff unyielding material, and, third, to provide a claspor fastener in which the parts shall consist of members each formed ofan integral strip or piece of metal died or stamped into shape,wherebyexpensive machine-work may be obviated and the cost of producing thefastener be made relatively low.

To these ends the invention consists of a fastener of the characterdescribed possessing certain features of construction and relativearrangement of parts, all as illustrated upon the accompanying drawings,described in the following specification, and pointed out in the claimshereto appended.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, and to the lettersmarked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same lettersdesignating the same parts or features, as the case may be, whereverthey occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 represents in plan or edge view a fastener orclasp embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a front view of thesame. Figs. 3 and 4. are plan or edge views, partially in section,showing the two members of the clasp as engaged and being disengaged,respectively. Fig. 5 represents a perspective view of the spring-loop towhich one of the members is attached and by whichit is held inengagement with the other member.

in width to receive the member a.

Referring to the drawings, which show one embodiment of the invention,the two complemental members are indicated by a and b, respectively. Themember a is longitudinally curved and is provided at its edges with aplurality of notches a a, which form engaging shoulders a a which are atright angles to the median line of the said member. The outer end of thesaid member is apertured at a to receive a metallic loop 0, which may beriveted or secured, as at c, to the upper of a shoe or the flap of anovershoe. Said loop is formed of a strip of metal bent upon itself, asshown, the space at the bent end between the two legs of the stripbeinglarge enough to permit the cross-bar a at the end of the member ato turn therein.

The member I) is formed of a flat plate of metal which is bent at itsfront or inner end I) and is formed with an aperture 1) adequate Theaperture b is contracted at the front portion of the member to form twoshoulders 79 b which are adapted to engage the shoulders a a on themember a, said contracted portion of the aperture being wide enough toreceive the narrow portion of the member a formed between the notches a.A metallic loop dis passed through the aperture 1) in the member Z), asshown in Figs. 3 and f. This loop dis also formed of spring metal andforms a bearing for the cross-bar or pintle b at the outer or rear endof the member Z). The loop is cut away, as shown, to form two bearings dd, and between them is a spring tongue d which is slightly bent at itsfree end to bear against the inner face of the pintle b. The cross-baror pintle b is oblong in section, so as to provide two faces at an angleto each other, whereby the spring may bear flat against either of saidfaces to hold the member I) in an operative or inoperative position. I

In order to engage the members, the member 19 is rotated in the loopabout the pintle b as an axis into the position shown in Fig. 4:, whereit is substantially at right angles to the member a, and the spring (1hearing against a flat face on the cross-bar or pintle b holds themember in that position. The said member a is then passed through theaperture b and the member I) is thrown into the position shown in Fig.3. The end of the member a rests upon the outer surface of the loop, andhence the members are maintained in their engaged positions againstaccidental displacement by the said spring, which bears against a flatface of the pintle b. The action of the spring is to force the member I)toward its operative or inoperative position from a neutral positionmidway between the two. This combination of the engaging members and thespring-loop is especially desirable where the fastener is employed onbrogans and other articles that are comparatively stiff and where themembers are liable to be disengaged, and consequently, so far as thepresent invention is concerned, it is not limited to the preciseconstruction of members which I have illustrated and described, sincethe springloop may be employed in connection with other fasteners.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a way ofconstructing and using the same, although without attempting to setforth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes ofitsuse, I declare that what I claim is 1. A clasp or fastener comprisingtwo complemental members, one beingelongated with a plurality ofengaging shoulders inits edges and the other having a transverseaperture to receive the first said member, said aperture beingcontracted at its front end whereby the end wall of the apertureprovides shoulders 19 to engage the said first-mentioned shoulders.

2. A clasp or fastener comprising two complemental members each formedof sheet metal and each having means at its outer end for attachment toa shoe or garment, one of said members being elongated with a pinralityof engaging shoulders on its edges, and the other having an aperturebetween its ends to receive the first-mentioned member,

said aperture being contracted at its front end to provide shoulders toengage the firstmentioned shoulders, whereby the elongated member may bepassed through the aperture in the apertured member and by itsengagement with both faces thereof be held with its shoulders in firmcontact with the shoulders of the said apertured member.

3. A clasp or fastener comprising two complemental detachable membersand an attaching-loop for one of said members, said loop consisting of ametallic strip doubled upon itself and being cut away to provide aresilient tongue with its end at or near the bend in the loop tonormally hold said members in engagement.

4. A clasp or fastener comprising two complemental detachable membershaving engaging parts, one of said members having a cross-bar or pintleat its outer end, and an attaching-loop for encircling said cross-bar orpintle, said loop consisting ofa metallic strip doubled upon itself andbeing cut away to provide a spring-tongue to bear against said cross-baror pintle and hold said member in either of two positions.

5. A clasp or fastener comprising two complemental detachable membershaving engaging parts,-one of said members having a crossbar or pintleatits outer end, and an attaching-loop for encircling said cross-bar orpintle, said loop being formed of a single strip of resilient metal bentupon itself, and having a spring-tongue integral therewith extendinginto the space between its two portions, and bearing against saidcr0ssbar, substantially as set forth.

In testimony WhereofI have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

. NEWTON CRANE.

Witnesses:

MARCUS B. MAY, P. W. PEZZETTI.

